UK DRAG RACING

[coppice]

I’m starting this thread because drag racing deserves it. Motor sport is a broad church encompassing many disciplines and drag racing is one of them. Some motor racing enthusiasts dislike drag racing because of its short duration and obvious lack of corners. But that’s missing the point of a complex and hugely spectacular sport which enjoys a small but fanatical following in the UK.

I fell in love with drag racing in 1973 and it has given me a lot of pleasure over the years. Circuit racing is my main passion, but no motor sport year is complete without a trip to Santa Pod, and to my local strip at Melbourne near York.

If you haven't tried drag racing here's why you will enjoy it –

-spec formulae are the curse of modern motor sport. Except in drag racing, where every car is unique. They don’t even have numbers, but names - often very funny ones.

-the rule framework has the lightest of touches, meaning there's immense room for innovation in power units, chassis and aerodynamics. Standards of preparation are astonishing and the liveries often eye searing.

- drag racing has an innate sense of humour – where else would you find a road legal garden shed with a mid -mounted V8, a big block V8 powered rat rod looking like a rusty barn find or a Ford Anglia whose acceleration makes Max’s Red Bull look pedestrian ?

-drag race meetings are access all areas, including the paddock. There's no corporate hospitality bull**** and everyone is made equally welcome. The crowd is hugely diverse in age, ethnicity and social class, more so than any other branch of motorsport.

-Everyone knows that Top Fuellers have immense performance – 300 mph plus in 1000 feet. But there’s much more to enjoy – how about Fraudster, the Mark1 Escort which hits 180 mph at the end of a quarter mile? Or the groundshaking Pro Mods, using their 3000bhp to accelerate to 250mph in 5 seconds . A Red Bull takes the same time to hit 125mph.

If you love motor sport your life is incomplete if you have never experienced the sound and fury of drag racing. Try it out but don't forget you ear defenders. It is LOUD.

I will post updates on events - feel free to do the same

[JT240Z]

Why not ask the moderators to create a forum for drag racing fans?

[JT240Z]

Oh, I see that you did. Good luck with your endeavor. Drag's not really my thing though. Been to several Southern Nationals events. Never could get into it though.

[coppice]

I went to Georgia a few years ago, en route to my one and only NASCAR race. If I make a return trip I'd be sure to take in a South East Gassers drag meeting , where it is forever 1967. Lots on YouTube - and it illustrates the wonderful good humour of the drag community .

[Truckosaurus]

I've been to see the top fuel cars at Santa Pod a couple of times. They are like nothing else in the motorsport world - utter violence and an assault on the senses.

Well recommended to anyone who's not been.

(Also, the meetings seem to be constant action on track, so good value spectating)

I think the biggest issue is with the UK weather and it being highly likely that it could be rained off.

[coppice]

Well... I check the weather , and in decades of drag racing I've had one wash out at the Pod in 2017 and a long , drizzly delay in about 1998.

I was at Melbourne at the weekend , currently running 1/8 mile , but what a privilege to see Graham Sykes' amazing steam rocket bike - how does 4.1 seconds @169 mph sound ?

[fieldodreams79]

I went to the NHRA's Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway 7 years ago and got hooked on Nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel Dragsters. Completely bonkers. Insane acceleration. Jaw dropping speeds. Ridiculous noise. Smells. Tastes. Everything that got me into motor racing was there. LMAO most of the time. It was great. Hate that the place closed for more crap housing, but what are you going to do? Go to Charlotte or Bristol!!

[E.B]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I went to the NHRA's Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway 7 years ago and got hooked on Nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel Dragsters. Completely bonkers. Insane acceleration. Jaw dropping speeds. Ridiculous noise. Smells. Tastes. Everything that got me into motor racing was there. LMAO most of the time. It was great. Hate that the place closed for more crap housing, but what are you going to do? Go to Charlotte or Bristol!!

Similarly a few years ago, an Aussie forum friend of mine who happens to be a Drag Racing (and now his career has progressed to other more mainstream categories) TV commentator invited me to a Top Fuel demo meeting at a car show.

I duly attended and was absolutely blown away. I was literally within a couple of metres from a top fuel car being started and run as part of the demo. No ear defenders or anything sensible. Cockily I had thought, I have heard it all before with other race cars , racing rotaries etc....

How wrong I was. The noise was staggering, the ground shaking under me, the engine visibly twisting, car almost jumping as it revved. The fumes from the fuel had me by my throat , my eyes and nose were streaming, and my ears ringing. I was to say the least startled by the sheer awesomeness of it. It certainly left a lasting impression.

Less impressive was my friend was there doing the intro and a piece on the event in front of the cameras. As the engine was cut he walked over to me, without any advance warning, stuck a microphone in my face, a cameraman next to him doing same with a cTV camera and asked me what I thought. My 15 seconds of TV fame showed a startled me with eyes and nose streaming, coughing and spluttering, ears ringing, trying to get a couple of words such as awesome and mind blowing out, as he and others in the crowd laughed at the effect it had had on me.

A truly unforgettable experience

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by E.B

Similarly a few years ago, an Aussie forum friend of mine who happens to be a Drag Racing (and now his career has progressed to other more mainstream categories) TV commentator invited me to a Top Fuel demo meeting at a car show.

I duly attended and was absolutely blown away. I was literally within a couple of metres from a top fuel car being started and run as part of the demo. No ear defenders or anything sensible. Cockily I had thought, I have heard it all before with other race cars , racing rotaries etc....

How wrong I was. The noise was staggering, the ground shaking under me, the engine visibly twisting, car almost jumping as it revved. The fumes from the fuel had me by my throat , my eyes and nose were streaming, and my ears ringing. I was to say the least startled by the sheer awesomeness of it. It certainly left a lasting impression.

Less impressive was my friend was there doing the intro and a piece on the event in front of the cameras. As the engine was cut he walked over to me, without any advance warning, stuck a microphone in my face, a cameraman next to him doing same with a cTV camera and asked me what I thought. My 15 seconds of TV fame showed a startled me with eyes and nose streaming, coughing and spluttering, ears ringing, trying to get a couple of words such as awesome and mind blowing out, as he and others in the crowd laughed at the effect it had had on me.

A truly unforgettable experience

That's an awesome story. Reaction videos are the greatest!!

I forgot about the fumes. Within 5 minutes of walking into the place, I got my whole family crying in the midway. Younger son has yet to forgive me.

[JHamilton]

I've been wanting a drag racing thread for a long time... does it just have to be UK drag racing, though? The vast majority of what I see is NHRA, IHRA, and most interestingly to me, amatuer drag-and-drive events. The Aussies are all over drag-and-drive events now too!

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by coppice

I went to Georgia a few years ago, en route to my one and only NASCAR race. If I make a return trip I'd be sure to take in a South East Gassers drag meeting , where it is forever 1967. Lots on YouTube - and it illustrates the wonderful good humour of the drag community .

We'd be happy to have ya!

And IMO, the current king of the gassers is Georgia's own Blasphemi!

[coppice]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I've been wanting a drag racing thread for a long time... does it just have to be UK drag racing, though? The vast majority of what I see is NHRA, IHRA, and most interestingly to me, amatuer drag-and-drive events. The Aussies are all over drag-and-drive events now too!

Any drag racing will do! I spend too much time watching borderline legal street racing on 1320 Video channel on YouTube and , as you say the Aussies and Kiwis are hugely into the sport . The showmanship and spectacle are unrivalled , and I say that after more than fifty years watching every branch of motor sport .

For UK fans within reach of Santa Pod I can heartily recommend Dragstalgia , I think on the coming weekend . More smiles than there will be at Silverstone , and a much better soundtrack ...

[Robin Marriott]

I love it, I'm a huge fan and every time I go to spectate, I leave wanting to sell everything I own and buy something I can race.

I grew up walking distance from Santa Pod. On any given weekend you could hear everything Pro Mod and upwards from our back garden and I went a few times as a kid in the late 1990s.

As I got older and had adult money and a means of getting myself there, I would go to anything and everything because it used to be SO cheap to get in. Sadly that's not the case so much anymore so I pick and choose what I attend.

This year I'm spreading myself around a bit so my only visit has already happened at Doorslammers in May, which I think is probably the year's best event. There's no Top Fuel but it's the closest to old fashioned drag racing as you can get these days (although with a lot of more modern cars), you get grudge races between classes, there's effectively no rules in Pro Doorslammer and in previous years you've had Pro Mods competing with the boost turned up, or the ballast removed to get them below their normal class minimum.

Dragstalgia is also brilliant, and this year, John Willard has brought over the Aussie Outlaw to race in Outlaw Anglia, where it looks like he'll set a new class record, all being well. He's already managed a 6.7 off the trailer and backed it up with 3 more since, over the past couple of weeks.

The thing which has really exploded in recent years is FWD. This time ten years ago I posted on another forum and someone was keeping track of all the front wheel drive cars in Europe who had ran 10 seconds or faster. There was 23 cars and the record was 8.99. Now there's 191 cars and the record is 7.86! At Doorslammers there was a 70 car entry list for the class, which according to the commentary team is the biggest of any entry list for any class anywhere in Europe.

[coppice]

For drag racing fans Up North, this weekend sees another meeting at Melbourne, a few miles south of York. It's the equivalent of a club race meeting ,so there will be big range of cars and bikes , it's friendly and it's cheap. More on the Straightliners Facebook pages

[coppice]

Another heads up for Melbourne, on w/e of 17/18 September. More details on Straightliners Facebook pages . Hopefully another chance to see the astonishing pace of Graham Sykes's steam powered rocket bike - how about an eighth mile in under 4 seconds, with a terminal speed of 168mph?

[coppice]

And I will give another plug for Melbourne this coming weekend . Do go if you are local -about 10 miles S of York . The volunteers who run the venue are doing a great job and deserve support . Great cars and bikes expected .

Or is it like the local pub ? Everybody mourns the closure of a pub but only a tiny percentage of them ever supported it .

[Robin Marriott]

I keep meaning to go but it’s so far away.

I wish I’d gone to Shakey before it shut so I really should make the effort with Melbourne at least once.

[coppice]

In an attempt to kick start this too quiet thread , I will mention that this weekend is the Summer Nationals at the Pod , and the next weekend is Dragstalgia.

Both are great events and proof , if needed , that motorsport is about so much more than watching BTCC and F1 on telly .

If you've never been, give it a try. You will love it .